Demographics of the United States

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Population of the United States, 1790 to 2000

The demographics United States depict a largely urban nation, with 57 percent of its population living in places more than 100 miles away from the ocean (2003).^[1] The mean population center of the United States has consistently shifted westward and southward, with California and Texas currently the most populous states.

The U.S. population is characterized as slow growth, with a large baby boomer cohort. Births, supplemented by immigration, help to offset the aging population. The total U.S. population crossed the 300 million mark in 2006, 200 million mark in 1967, and the 100 million mark around 1915. ^[2] The U.S. population more than tripled during the 20th century, a growth rate of about 1.3 percent a year, having been about 76 million in 1900.

U.S. population clock hits the 300 million mark

United States population pyramid.

On Tuesday, October 17, 2006 at 7:46 a.m. (EDT), the estimated population of the United States reached 300 million.^[3]

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US population reaches 300 million

The United States has dozens of major cities, including 11 of the 55 global cities of all types—with three "alpha" global cities: New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago. The figures expressed below are for populations within city limits. A different ranking is evident when considering U.S. metro area populations, Census Bureau's]] 2005 estimates, are as follows. In historic areas that were settled very early, e.g., Boston, New Haven, etc., the boundaries were set in the 1700s and therefore the populations appear small even though, in actuality, the cities are very large.

Rank	City	Population within city limits	Population Density per sq mi	Metropolitan Area		Region
Rank	City	Population within city limits	Population Density per sq mi	millions	rank	Region
1	New York City, New York	8,143,197	26,402.9	18.7	1	Northeast
2	Los Angeles, California	3,844,829	7,876.8	12.9	2	West
3	Chicago, Illinois	2,842,518	12,750.3	9.4	3	Midwest
4	Houston, Texas	2,016,582	3,371.7	5.2	7	South
5	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	1,463,281	11,233.6	5.8	4	Northeast
6	Phoenix, Arizona	1,461,575	2,782.0	3.7	14	West
7	San Antonio, Texas	1,256,509	2,808.5	1.8	29	South
8	San Diego, California	1,255,540	3,771.9	2.9	17	West
9	Dallas, Texas	1,213,825	3,469.9	5.7	5	South
10	San Jose, California	953,679	5,188.1	1.7*	30*	West

All metropolitan area population figures and ranks are based on the United States Census Bureau's definition of "Metropolitan Statistical Areas." However, common practice is to combine the San Jose Metropolitan Area with that of San Francisco and Oakland (i.e., the Combined Statistical Area) whose population is 7.1 million. This would affect the populations of the other metropolitan areas as well.

See also: United States metropolitan area

1 Population density
2 Racial groups
3 Religious affiliation
4 Income
5 Miscellaneous statistics
6 See also
7 References
8 External links

[edit] Population density

2000 U.S. population density in persons per sq. mile (lower 48 states only): Light to dark (yellow to blue): 1-4 (y), 5-9 (lt. green), 10-24 (teal), 25-49 (dk. teal), 50-99 (blue-green), 100-249 (blue), 250-66,995 (black).

Population density for selected U.S. cities
City name	Density
West New York, New Jersey	44,352/mi²
Hoboken, New Jersey	29,791/mi²
New York, New York	26,348/mi²	Manhattan (66,173/mi²)
Somerville, Massachusetts	18,633/mi² [1] [2]
San Francisco, California	16,443/mi²
Chelsea, Massachusetts	16,086/mi²
Jersey City, New Jersey	15,852/mi²
Central Falls, Rhode Island	15,471/mi² [3]
Chicago, Illinois	12,603/mi²	Edgewater (35,743/mi²)
Santa Ana, California	12,306/mi²
Boston, Massachusetts	12,166/mi²	Back Bay/Beacon Hill (29,690/mi)
Newark, New Jersey	11,548/mi²
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	10,852/mi²
Yonkers, New York	10,780/mi²
Miami, Florida	10,483/mi²
Washington, District of Columbia	9,070/mi²
Los Angeles, California	7,972/mi²
Baltimore, Maryland	7,693/mi²
Buffalo, New York	7,217/mi²
Oakland, California	7,054/mi²
Minneapolis, Minnesota	6,969/mi²
Seattle, Washington	6,639/mi²
New Haven, Connecticut	6,554/mi²	Downtown New Haven (14,590/mi²) [4]
Cleveland, Ohio	6,095/mi²	Lakewood (10,088/mi²)
St. Louis, Missouri	5,696/mi²
San Jose, California	5,059/mi²
Portland, Oregon	3,894/mi²
Dallas, Texas	3,492/mi²	Vickery Meadows (57,897/mi²) ^[4]
Houston, Texas	3,333/mi²
Atlanta, Georgia	3,126/mi²
Phoenix, Arizona	2,749/mi²

The most densely populated state is New Jersey (1,121/mi²). See List of U.S. states by population density for maps and complete statistics.

The United States Census Bureau publishes a popular "dot" map showing population distribution at a resolution of 7,500 people,^[5] as well as complete listings of population density by place name. ^[6]

[edit] Racial groups

Main article: Racial demographics of the United States

2000 Population Ancestry Map

According to the Census Bureau, 2005 American Community Survey the US population is as follows:

White American, 74.7%, or about 215.3 million (the definition of White includes European Americans, North African Americans, Middle Eastern Americans (e.g. Arab Americans), Central Asian Americans, and Hispanic Americans who reported as White in the 2000 Census)
Black or African American 12.1% or 34.9 million
Asian American 4.3% or 12.5 million,
American Indian 0.8% or 2.4 million
Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander 0.1% or 0.4 million
Two or more races 1.9% or 5.6 million
Other 6% or 17.3 million

The figures above include people who declare mixed race or multiracial ancestry, and people who identify themselves as Hispanic. As of the 2000 Census, U.S. federal law defines Hispanic to indicate any person with an ancestral connection to Spain (for most Hispanic Americans, the connection is indirect, through Latin America). The category includes Sephardic Jews^{[citation needed]}, and speakers of Ladino are classified with Spanish speakers in the U.S. Census.

Hispanics of any race: 14.5% or about 41.9 million.

[edit] Religious affiliation

Main article: Religion in the United States

Plurality religion by state, 2001. Data are unavailable for Alaska and Hawaii.

Self-Described Religious Identification of U.S. Adult Population: 1990 and 2001 [5]
All figures after adjusting for refusals to reply, which jumped from 2.3% in 1990 to 5.4% in 2001

**U.S. Census [6]**
	1990	2001	Change in % point	Numerical growth in % terms
Total Christian	88.3%	79.8%	-8.5%	+5.3%
Catholic	26.8%	25.9%	-0.9%	+10.6%
Baptist	19.8%	17.2%	-2.6%	-0.4%
Methodist	8.3%	7.2%	-1.1%	-0.2%
Christian - no denomination reported	4.7%	7.2%	+2.5%	+75.3%
Lutheran	5.3%	4.9%	-0.4%	+5.2%
Presbyterian	2.9%	2.8%	-0.1%	+12.3%
Protestant - no denomination reported	10.0%	2.4%	-7.7%	-73.0%
Pentecostal/Charismatic	1.9%	2.2%	+0.4%	+38.1%
Episcopalian/Anglican	1.8%	1.8%	--	+13.4%
Mormon/Latter Day Saints	1.5%	1.4%	-0.1%	+12.1%
Churches of Christ	1.0%	1.3%	+0.3%	+46.6%
Congregational/United Church of Christ	0.3%	0.7%	+0.4%	+130.1%
Jehovah's Witnesses	0.8%	0.7%	-0.1%	-3.6%
Assemblies of God	0.4%	0.6%	+0.2%	+67.6%
Evangelical	0.1%	0.5%	+0.4%	+326.4%
Church of God	0.3%	0.5%	+0.2%	+77.8%
Seventh Day Adventist	0.4%	0.4%	--	+8.4%
Eastern Orthodox	0.3%	0.3%	--	+28.5%
Other Christian (less than 0.3% each)	1.6%	1.9%	+0.3%	+40.2%
Total other religions	3.5%	5.2%	+1.7%	+69.1%
Jewish	1.8%	1.4%	-0.4%	-9.8%
Non-denominational	0.1%	1.3%	+1.2%	+1,176.4%
Muslim	0.3%	0.6%	+0.3	+109.5%
Buddhist	0.2%	0.5%	+0.3%	+169.8%
Hindu	0.1%	0.4%	+0.3%	+237.4%
Unitarian Universalist	0.3%	0.3%	--	+25.3%
Others (less than 0.07% each)	0.6%	0.7%	+0.1%	+25.4%
No Religion/Atheist/Agnostic	8.4%	15.0%	+6.6%	+105.7%

The American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS) 2001 was based on a random digit-dialed telephone survey of 50,281 American residential households in the continental U.S.A (48 states). Respondents were asked to describe themselves in terms of religion with an open-ended question. Interviewers did not prompt or offer a suggested list of potential answers. The primary question of the interview was: What is your religion, if any? The religion of the spouse/partner was also asked. If the initial answer was 'Protestant' or 'Christian' further questions were asked to probe which particular denomination.

Key findings:^[7] (Not adjusted for increase in refusals to reply)

the proportion of the population that can be classified as Christian has declined from 86% in 1990 to 77% in 2001;
although the number of adults who classify themselves in non-Christian religious groups has increased from about 5.8 million to about 7.7 million, the proportion of non-Christians has increased only by a very small amount - from 3.3% to about 3.7%;
the greatest increase in absolute as well as in percentage terms has been among those adults who do not subscribe to any religious identification; their number has more than doubled from 14.3 million in 1990 to 29.4 million in 2001; their proportion has grown from just 8% of the total in 1990 to over 14% in 2001;
there has also been a substantial increase in the number of adults who refused to reply to the question about their religious preference, from about four million or 2% in 1990 to more than eleven million or over 5% in 2001.

Other key findings:

Nearly 20% of adults who describe themselves as atheist or agnostic also report that either they themselves or someone else in their household is a member of a church, temple, synagogue, mosque or some other religious institution.
On the other hand, nearly 40% of respondents who identified with a religion indicated that neither they themselves nor anyone else in their household belongs to a church or some other similar institution.
Despite the growing diversity nationally, some religious groups clearly occupy a dominant demographic position in particular states. For instance, Catholics are the majority of the population in Massachusetts and Rhode Island as are Mormons in Utah and Baptists in Mississippi. Catholics comprise over 40% of Vermont, New Mexico, New York and New Jersey, while Baptists are over 40% in a number of southern states such as South Carolina, Tennessee, North Carolina, Alabama and Georgia.
Historical traces of a Bible Belt in the South and a less religious West are still evident. Those with "no religion" constitute the largest "denomination" in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Wyoming. In contrast, the percentage of adults who adhere to "no religion" is below 10% in North and South Dakota, the Carolinas, Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee.
Jews, Muslims, Buddhists and those with no religion continue to have a greater preference for the Democratic party over the Republican - much as they did in 1990. Evangelical or Born Again Christians and Mormons are the most apt to identify as Republicans. Buddhists and those with no religion are most likely to be political independents. In keeping with their theology, Jehovah's Witnesses disavow political involvement.
In both the 1990 and 2001 studies, the Buddhist and Muslim population appears to have the highest proportion of young adults under age thirty, and the lowest percentage of females. A number of the major Christian groups have aged since 1990, most notably the Catholics, Methodists, and Lutherans. Congregationalist/United Church of Christ and Presbyterian adherents show an older age str* ARIS2001 found that of all households that contained either a married or domestic partner couple, 22% reported a mixture of religious identification amongst the couple. At the low end there are the Mormon adults who are found in mixed religion families at 12% and such other groups as Baptists, those adhering to the Churches of Christ, Assemblies of God, the Evangelicals and those adhering to the Church of God (all at about 18%). At the high end we find the Episcopalians at 42% group shows the lowest incidence of marriage (just 19%) of all twenty-two groups. In sharp contrast, those identifying with the Assemblies of God or Evangelical/Born Again Christians show the highest proportions married, 73% and 74% respectively. The percent currently divorced or separated varies considerably less, from a low of six percent (Jehovah's Witnesses) to a high of fourteen percent (Pentecostals).
The top three "gainers" in America's vast religious market place appear to be Evangelical Christians, those describing themselves as Non-Denominational Christians and those who profess no religion. Looking at patterns of religious change from this perspective, the evidence points as much to the rejection of faith as to the seeking of faith among American adults. Indeed, among those who previously had no religion, just 5% report current identification with one or another of the major religions.
Women are more likely than men to describe their outlook as "religious." Older Americans are more likely than younger to describe their outlook as "religious." Black Americans are least likely to describe themselves as secular, Asian Americans are most likely to do so.
68% of those identifying themselves as Lutheran report church membership, while only 45% of those who describe themselves as Protestant (without a specific denominational identification) report church membership. Nearly 68% of those identifying with the Assemblies of God report church membership. Church membership is reported by 59% of Catholic adults. About 53% of adults who identify their religion as Jewish or Judaism report temple or synagogue membership. Among those calling themselves Muslim or Islamic, 62% report membership in a mosque.

[edit] Income

Main article: Household income in the United States

In 2006, the median household income in the United States was around $46,000. Household and personal income in the US dependent on multiple variables such as race, number of income earners, educational attainment and maritial status.

[edit] Miscellaneous statistics

Historical populations
Census	Pop.	%±
1790	3,929,214	41%
1800	5,236,631	33%
1810	7,239,881	38%
1820	9,638,453	33%
1830	12,866,020	33%
1840	17,069,453	33%
1850	23,191,876	36%
1860	31,443,321	36%
1870	38,558,371	23%
1880	49,371,340	28%
1890	62,979,766	28%
1900	76,212,168	21%
1910	92,228,496	21%
1920	106,021,537	15%
1930	123,202,624	16%
1940	132,164,569	7%
1950	151,325,798	14%
1960	179,323,175	19%
1970	203,211,926	13%
1980	226,545,805	11%
1990	248,709,873	10%
2000	281,421,906	13%
September 2006 est	299,845,946	7%
October 17 2006 est	300,000,000	{{{72}}}